


Consigned to Oblivion

by Cullhach



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure, Brief Injury, CHAPTER 2 IS ART, Fairy POV, Gen, I have a very important point I would like to make, Language Barrier, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Magic, Please consider this story, Retribution, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cullhach/pseuds/Cullhach
Summary: Adventures are supposed to be exciting, as a general rule.Now, though, they wished they’d slept in and missed out on this “adventure” entirely.  It was the actual worst.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

Adventures are supposed to be exciting, as a general rule. The bold hero ventures forth into the unknown, takes risks, makes mistakes, grows as an individual, succeeds in some great deed or other, and a fairy or two helps them along the way. Everyone knows that’s how it’s supposed to be, and so that is what the fairy expected when they were scooped into a bottle halfway through their morning errands (the timing was terribly inconvenient, but that’s just another word people use to describe adventures, so the fairy didn’t think much of it at the time).

To be honest, they _had_ been a bit excited at the prospect. Most fairies lived out their entire lives without ever interacting with a Hylian, let alone an actual incarnation of the hero, so that glimpse they got of a signature green hat through the blurred glass of the bottle had been quite a thrill. 

Now, though, the fairy wished they’d slept in and missed out on this “adventure” entirely. It was the actual worst. 

They moped on the bottom of their jar, just like they did all day every day, staring up at the disgustingly familiar cork above. Back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, _all day long_. They couldn’t even see anything from the inside of the hero’s bag! Somehow, the hero never selected their jar when he needed a fairy, and after a while he stopped catching fairies at all. It had been months, maybe even years at this point; the fairy had lost track.

It was infuriating.

The fairy sat in their jar day after day. This was their life now. Heroes sucked.

They sighed, tilting their head back to glare at the liquid sloshing around in the bottle next to them. Stupid potions. Stupid hero. Another long, boring day was in the forecast.

There was a commotion, and the fairy barely believed it when that cursed hand reached for their jar specifically.

“I think— in here somewhere—” They could just make out a muffled voice as the hand lifted their jar into the light and popped off the cork.

 _FINALLY!_ The fairy screeched, tearing out of the jar in a fountain of pink sparks and tangible rage. They were going to heal the idiot hero _so hard_ it would kill him again.

The sudden sensory input of _not-jar_ was disorienting, but the injury they’d been called upon to heal was apparent enough. The free air was sweet, but the tang of iron was strong. They instantly zeroed in on what must have been the hero, sprawled in the dirt with his tunic torn and bloodstained, and went about doing what fairies do best. Pink sparks exploded into the injury at lightning speed, and the hero gasped reflexively at the overwhelming influx of magic. 

_Take that,_ the fairy thought, eyes narrowed as they shot sparks into the wound.

The hero coughed breathlessly, curling around his newly healed abdomen in shock. 

“Farore, Nayru, and Din,” he gasped, scrunching his eyes tight “Are your fairies—” a pause for breath, “— _always_ like this?!”

“No—?” came the confused reply somewhere behind the fairy.

The fairy folded their arms, terribly pleased with their work. Then they blinked. They were surrounded by a crowd of people, all of whom gave off excessively heroic vibes and were staring at the fairy with expressions ranging from wary to impressed. The fairy gave them a dirty look in return. One of them finally came closer and had the gall to shoo the fairy away (so dismissive!) as they moved to assist the downed hero.

The hero on the ground continued to grunt expletives, and the fairy zipped away in a huff. Sweet, sweet freedom called, and they wanted to be as far away as possible from the hero and his rude, ungrateful friends. 

They made it about ten yards before taking cover in a bush, quite out of breath. They may have overdone it a bit back there. _Totally worth it though._

Now they just needed to find a fairy fountain for a quick recharge before they could head back home—

A glowing ball of pink light appeared directly in front of them, startling them from their perch. _What the_ — _!?_ The fairy reeled back, grabbing at a stem for balance. The ball of light hovered closer, making a curious ringing sound.

The fairy stood tall, balance regained but dignity lost to gravity. _And what in Hyrule are you supposed to_ — they caught sight of delicate wings protruding from the back of the glowing orb, which was gently radiating healing magic now that they thought about it.

A— fairy?

Their stomach followed their dignity all the way down to the ground, and their jaw made an attempt to follow. Was this supposed to be another fairy?! Where in the world was this place? An uneasy feeling took root in their gut, but they ignored it.

The ball of light made the sound again. 

_I don’t understand a word you’re saying._ The fairy huffed at the glowing ball, which pulled away slightly. It jingled again, cautious, like the tiniest of bells.

The fairy ran a hand over their face in frustration. They hated absolutely _everything_. 

_Look, is there a fountain somewhere nearby? I, ah, pushed myself pretty hard back there._

The ball flashed excitedly, dinging as it bounced up and down, and zipped out of the bush. The fairy sighed dramatically and followed. That seemed to be a strong affirmative.

The fountain wasn’t too far away, neatly hidden in a hole in the ground. They drifted slowly through the opening, past clods and tangled roots that clutched at the rocks and dirt with twisting fingers. The tunnel opened up into a bright room, lined with the sparkling pillars and smooth tiles one would expect to see at a fairy fountain. Perfection. The fairy nodded their thanks to the glowing ball, which bobbed a bit before going to join a swarm of other glowing balls that had streamed out of hiding in a choir of bells after recognizing their friend. 

_Whatever_. The others could gossip all they wanted while the fairy soaked up some magic. Who cared. 

The fairy took a breath and stepped into the water at the edge of the pool and promptly flung themself back out with a shriek. 

It was freezing! Ridiculously, brutally cold. How did the glowing ball fairy things _stand_ it here? The fairy glanced up at the cloud of silent orbs that had come to hover around them at the outburst, and took a moment to be impressed with their temperature tolerance. 

Their glowy friend chimed quietly. Most of the crowd dispersed after a minute, and the fairy eventually crawled back to the edge of the fountain to frown at the water. Everything about this was just weird. They reached out and dipped a cautious finger into the chilly pool. 

Huh. 

Even the magic here was different. It tasted odd. Not bad, but definitely foreign, almost like electricity on their tongue. But how could that be? They shook their head, confused. Magic was part of the world itself, and changed just as slowly. It could have other things dissolved into it, like the water of the fountains it so liked to pool in, but it didn’t just fundamentally change like this from place to place—?

The uneasy feeling was back, and it brought a sneaking suspicion with it, which rapidly matured into a dreadful realization.

 _This isn’t my Hyrule_ , the fairy thought, eyes wide.

 _This isn’t my Hyrule_ , the fairy said, and followed that up by grabbing their hair and screaming _THIS ISN’T MY HYRULE!_

They shot up in a panic, frantically searching for the exit. Their spherical friend chimed in alarm, flitting around in confusion. 

That stupid _idiot_ of a hero had traveled to an entirely different goddess forsaken _world_ before finally deciding he needed the fairy, and now probably planned to just leave them here like so much garbage. They zipped out of the fountain, fueled by their renewed rage.

One thing was absolutely certain. The fairy was going to find a way to reach across time and space to personally murder the hero if he tried to ditch them here.

  
  


-∆-∆-∆-

  
  


The group had moved on when the fairy returned, and for a moment they assumed the worst. They scanned the ground, frantic, following several boot prints away from the dead lizalfos littering what had apparently been a small battlefield. _No no no!_ They crested a grassy hill, and to their infinite relief found the group setting up camp in a cluster of trees on the other side.

Relief warred with anger as they flew straight into the center of camp, scanning the surprised faces for the idiot who they’d just healed.

_Target acquired._

The fairy shot up to his face and proceeded to tell him _exactly_ what they thought, gesturing wildly at the world in general. _Who do you think you are? How many others have you done this to? Have you no shame?_ The fairies considered themselves to be indebted to the hero’s spirit through the ages, but that gave him _no right!_

Many choice words were issued.

It wasn’t pretty.

The hero blinked at the fairy, nearly cross eyed as he leaned away.

“Um, Hyrule?” He swallowed, “I think your fairy is angry.”

 _Hyrule?_

...So this wasn’t the perpetrator then. _Awkward_.

Still, he was guilty by association and probably deserved everything the fairy had said. Definitely. They turned away from his face, carefully scanning everyone’s hands until they spied a pair they recognized from the days and weeks and months of being pushed aside in that cursed traveling bag.

He was wearing a green tunic, but seemed to have since lost the hat he had worn when he’d first caught the fairy. Typical.

The fairy sailed over to him and repeated their entire tirade, complete with gestures, and then folded their arms, waiting for a response.

The idiot scratched his head. “I’m sorry little friend, but I don’t understand what you're saying.”

 _Don’t understand?! FRIEND??!_ The fairy bared their teeth and kicked his nose to demonstrate exactly what they’d been saying, earning a snort from the person they healed earlier.

One of the hero’s shorter friends stepped forward cautiously, elbowing the hero (apparently named “Hyrule?”) to get his attention. 

“The fairy is mad at us for trying to leave them in the wrong Hyrule.”

"Hyrule’s" mouth formed an o, whether from surprise at receiving a translation or the message itself, the fairy couldn’t tell. The hero and his friends exchanged looks that shuffled a few times before landing on guilt. 

“Now that I think about it,” a man wearing more armor than the rest addressed the group at large, “we’ve probably stranded quite a few fairies these past few months.” He grimaced. To his credit, he actually looked pretty upset about it. 

The fairy growled at the hero named Hyrule as he cowered before them. 

“Well, I guess I could, um, carry you back home in a bottle if you’d like?” He offered, reaching for his horrible nightmare bag. 

The fairy backed away, shaking their head vehemently before turning to the short friend. _If he even thinks about putting me back in that jar, there is nowhere he can go where he will be safe when I get back out._

“That’s a strong no,” the short one translated, mouth twitching. “No bottles.”

The fairy nodded. The short one was acceptable.

Hyrule slowly let go of his bag. “Ok, no bottles,” he agreed.

And that is how the fairy found themself tucked away between the brown curls that crowned the head of the hero named “Hyrule” as he continued his adventure (apparently he’d had the fairy stashed in his bag since the beginning of his first, _and this was the middle of his third_!). He would bear them back to the correct “timeline,” according to the explanation the armored one had given, and until then, the fairy would get to experience the adventure first hand from their springy perch. This was much more comfortable that the jar.

It was _almost_ exciting.


	2. Bonus Picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fairies are totally mistreated lol

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative title: What-If-Hyrule-Could-Store-Fairies-This-Whole-Time-But-Forgot and That’s-Why-He-Couldn’t-Do-It-In-Game


End file.
